If you revel in the possibilities of theatre, do not miss Pacific
Overtures at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass. now
through September 14th. This 1976 Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman "one
of a kind" musical is beautifully realized here by director Kent Gash,
music director M. Michael Fauss and co-choreographers Darren Lee and
Francis Jue.

The story is based on Commodore Matthew Perry's opening up of Japan to
the Western World in the mid 1800s and the aftermath as a country closed
to foreigners for 100 years ricochets into modern times. Interwoven with
the political tract is the tale of two young men brought together by the
events. Kayama, a dispensable minor official, is chosen to dismiss the
American warships in the harbor, and Manjiro, a condemned prisoner, has
his sentence commuted so he can assist with his knowledge of foreign ways.

(The prisoner is also loosely based on a historic figure, a
shipwrecked 14-year old Japanese seaman who was brought to live and be
educated in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Despite an edict forbidding it, he
dared to return to Japan to see his mother ten years later and became
instrumental in the establishment of Japanese American relations.)

The tale is told from the Japanese point of view with the
foreigners as the comic villains. The original production directed by
Harold Prince had unforgettable sets by Boris Aronson and dazzling
costumes by Florence Klotz. It was informed by musical theatre
conventions but borrowed heavily from the traditions of Kabuki style
Japanese theatre. Despite the strong affinity of the one for the
other - both rely on dance, drama and music to tell a story, both
incorporate design and spectacle for a heightened effect and both are
considered "populist" entertainments - the differences confounded the
critics and defied audiences' expectations.

While this production embraces the style and intent of the original, it
improves upon it in several ways. First and foremost, three decades has
made all the difference in a director's ability to cast an ensemble of
Asian-American performers with all the necessary musical theatre chops.
This cast is extraordinary.

Steven Eng (Kayama) and Jason Ma (Manjiro) capture our hearts as they
outwit both the visiting Americans and the Japanese officials to save
their own hides. Their friendship, cemented in "Poems," a lovely,
sparse Sondheim lyric and melody, takes on a tragic trajectory in the
years following the opening up of Japan, brilliantly depicted in "A Bowler
Hat," one of my all time favorite musical theatre moments.

Those two numbers are just the delicate decorations on top of the icing
on the cake. "Someone in a Tree," one of Sondheim's favorite
musical theater moments, acknowledges how little is known of the exchange
of documents between Perry and the Japanese officials - or perhaps of any
historic event. The number blends three perspectives in uplifting
harmony: an old man (Alan Muraoka) recounting what he remembers; his
younger self (Randy Reyes) who can see, but not hear, from the branches of
a cherry tree; and a Samurai warrior (Erwin G. Urbi) hidden beneath the
floor of the treaty house who can hear, but not see.

And to extend the pastry metaphor a little further, the "cake" in this
case is full of perfectly rendered comic treats. The first delight is
"Chrysanthemum Tea," a musical scene in which the Shogun's mother (Mikio
Hirata) enlists the aid of her son's useless wife, soothsayer, priest, and
physician before dealing with the dilemma of the war ships in the harbor
in her own way.

"Welcome to Kanagawa" allows a Madame (Alan Muraoka) to educate us
along with her new recruits from the farm and demonstrate that the
foreigners weren't the only ones who foresee economic opportunity.

Sondheim then outdoes himself with "Please, Hello" at the top of act two
in which he conveys, in a comic "tour de force" of musical styles, that the
return of an American admiral (Erwin G. Urbi) opens the flood gates for
the British (Alan Muraoka), the Dutch (Jason Ma), the Russian (Ronald M.
Banks) and the French (Allan Mangaser).

The attribution of names above illustrates two essential facts about
the production. In keeping with the Kabuki tradition, men play the
women's roles. The only female members of the company are the two
stagehands who operate in full view of the audience cloaked entirely in
black to represent invisibility, another Kabuki convention. The other
startling revelation is that, in this case, a cast of only fourteen play
some 60 odd roles, somehow managing to get in and out of Paul Tazewell's
gorgeous, elaborate costumes for each one.

Another startling difference between this production and the original
is how the intimacy of the venue, along with the paring down of Neil
Patel's exquisite scenic elements for an in-the-round configuration,
affords a new clarity. It's easier to focus on Kayama and Manjiro at the
center of the situation and to view everything else as an elucidation
rather than a distraction.

This is the final stop for this production that originated at
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park then moved on to Atlanta's Alliance
Theatre (where Gash is associate artistic director) before being re-staged
for the NSMT. All three theatres are to be
congratulated for coming up with this collaboration and thanked for
committing the necessary resources to allow the vision to be fulfilled.

Pacific Overtures, a co-production of NSMT, Cincinnati Playhouse
and the Alliance Theatre, is at the North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham
Road, Beverly, Mass., now through Sunday, September 14th. Performances
are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00p.m. with matinees on
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2p.m. (Please note that the
performance on September 2 will be at 7p.m.).

"Out at the North Shore", an
evening for the Gay and Lesbian community, will take place on September 11 at 8p.m.
with a post-show reception in the Broadway Club. Tickets are priced from
$26 to $63 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (978)
232-7200, via the website at www.nsmt.org or in person at the theatre.